The efforts of Herman Stern to save his family and
so many others remained unknown for years. Stern was a private man who was, his
son recalled, "the first to step up to help and the last person to want any
credit." Stern said nothing about his sponsorship of over a hundred refugees,
asked everyone to say nothing and simply follow his example to help when
help was needed. "They don't owe me anything," his told his sons.

But over time, as, in the years that followed,
Stern went on to be recognized for his other activities -- in developing the
Greater North Dakota Association, the state's Winter Show, the promotion of
scouting, and many other public improvement efforts -- the story of his aid
to refugees came out. By the 1960s, the North Dakota press had
published short stories about how he, with the help of Gerald Nye, had
helped so many escape the Holocaust. Stern himself said little about
it, commenting in a short, taped interview in the 1970s that "my wife,
Adeline, and I decided we couldn't sit by and do nothing." He felt it was
“just an accident that I came to this country” and he and his wife had the
“responsibility to make it possible for other people to continue to live and
have an opportunity to enjoy this great country of ours, which was so good
to us.”

After Herman Stern's death in 1980, his son
Edward gave his business papers to the University of North Dakota. It was
there that the copies of Stern's letters to the U.S. State Department, and
his affidavits sponsoring the refugees, were found. A short article on what
Stern had done, entitled "The Angel of the Prairie," was published soon
after, but received little notice. It was not until the 1990s, during
the commemorations of World War II, that Stern's story received more
attention.

Several items from the Herman
Stern papers were featured in an exhibit ,
"Against the Odds," at New York City's
Museum of Jewish Heritage. These items
included photographs, letters, and testimony
from those Stern sponsored,

In March 2014, Herman Stern was named by North
Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple to the the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider
Hall of Fame, established in 1961 to recognize present and former North
Dakotans who have been influenced by the state in achieving national
recognition in their fields of endeavor.

In
awarding this honor to Stern, Governor Dalrymple commented:

“When we look back on our state’s history, the past century has been
defined by milestones and developments that have laid a strong foundation
for the growth and success of our state, and as we reflect on these
significant accomplishments, some common themes emerge – themes that are
personified by the name Herman Stern. His vision and values have become part
of the fabric that makes our state what it is today, and many of the
businesses and organizations that are making a difference in communities
across our state are rooted in the beliefs, the ambition and the work ethic
of this amazing man we honor today.”

Michael

Stern, Herman's grand-nephew, who came to the U.S.
after he

and his family were smuggled out of Paris in 1941, and Herman Stern
secured visas for them, put it in another way -- "If it wasn’t for Herman
Stern, there would be no Michael Stern alive today."

Exhibit credits and acknowledgments:

This exhibit was designed at the Northwest
Minnesota Historical Center, on the campus of Minnesota State University
Moorhead. Special thanks to Korella Selzler of the Center for her assistance
in the development of the site.

The Center gratefully acknowledges the help of the
Minnesota Humanities Commission for its generous grant assistance for obtaining
oral interviews and documents used in the exhibit. Supplemental assistance
from the MSUM Alumni Foundation and the Roland and Beth Dille for Excellence
is also appreciated.

Also a big thank you to Edward and Richard Stern,
the sons of Herman Stern, without whose generous assistance this project
could not have been done.

Thanks also to the Elwyn B. Robinson Department
of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota,
for permission to reproduce letters from the Herman Stern Papers.

The Center also wishes to thank Jody Bendel for
the production of the Stern family genealogy graphic, Robert Schieffer for
production of the sound files, and Gisela Nobel, professor emerita of MSUM
for translations of some of the letters in the Herman Stern papers. Thanks
are also due to Dr. John Neumaier, president emeritus of Moorhead State
for his assistance.

TO
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SUBJECTS OF JEWISH REFUGEES AND THE HOLOCAUST:

The Nizkor Project(includes
transcripts of the trial of Adolf Eichmann, Holocaust research guides, information
on the concentration camps, and information on the Holocaust denial movement)

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Mark Anderson, editor, Hitler's Exiles: Personal; Stories of the Flight
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Yitzhak Arad, et. al., editors, Documents on the Holocaust (1999)
Richard Breitman, Official Secrets: What the Nazis Planned, What the
British and Americans Knew (1998)
Martin Broszat, The Hitler State: The Foundation and Development of the
Internal Structure of the Third Reich (1981)
Stephen Budiansky, Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Code-Breaking
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Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The
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John V. H. Dippel, Bound Upon a Wheel of Fire: Why So Many German Jews
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Henry L. Feingold, The Politics of Rescue (1970)
Klaus P. Fischer, Nazi Germany: A New History (1995)
Saul Friedlander, Nazi Germany and the Jews (1997)
Charles Gelman, Do Not Go Gentle: A Memoir of Resistance in Poland (1989)
Gloria DeVidas Kirchheimer and Manfred Kirchheimer, We Were So Beloved:
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Marion A. Kaplan, Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in Nazi Germany
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Donald Niewyk and Francis Nicosia, The Columbia Guide to the Holocaust
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